Global Wind Power Capacity Increases 25 Percent in 2005

(From EERE Network News)
Last year established new records for wind power, as 11,769 megawatts (MW) of wind turbines worth about $14 billion were installed throughout the world, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC). Wind power grew at a 43 percent faster rate than in 2004, when 8,207 MW of wind power were installed. As of the end of 2005, the world's total installed wind power capacity stands at 59,322 MW, a 25 percent increase over 2004.

The United States installed the most new wind power capacity in 2005, but Germany still leads in terms of total installed wind capacity. Australia nearly doubled its wind power capacity in 2005, while Canadian wind power capacity grew by nearly 54 percent, and Asian wind power capacity grew by nearly 50 percent. See the GWEC press release.

A number of large wind power projects are now planned for the United States. Greenlight Energy, Inc. is developing a 300-MW wind power plant in northeast Colorado, to be completed in late 2007. In Minnesota, enXco is developing a 205.5-MW wind plant with a proposed commercial operation date of November 2007. And Missouri will soon see its first large wind project, the 50-MW Bluegrass Wind Ridge Farm, to be built this year northeast of St. Joseph. The Wind Capital Group is developing the project with financing from John Deere Wind Energy. See the Greenlight Energy Web site and the press releases from enXco and the Wind Capital Group.

In turn, wind turbine companies are doing well: Suzlon Wind Energy Corporation is supplying 75 of its 2.1-MW wind turbines to the Edison Mission Group, and Vestas Wind Systems A/S is supplying the Edison Mission Group with 30 of its 3-MW wind turbines. Vestas is also supplying 800 MW of wind turbines to Horizon Wind Energy LLC (formerly Zilkha Renewable Energy) over the next three years. GE Energy is supplying 500 MW of wind turbines to PPM Energy over the next two years, while Invenergy Wind LLC is buying 350 MW of GE wind turbines for projects in 2006. See the Suzlon press release (PDF 52 KB); the Vestas press releases on the Edison Mission Group order and the first 600 MW and the additional 200 MW for Horizon; and the press releases from GE Energy and Invenergy.

Comments

[Rod Adams]

Interesting. Do you have any data about the actual energy production from that capacity?

[Nick]

I believe that world capacity is roughly equivalent to about 20 GW from coal or nuclear, based on the US wind trade association (AWEA), which indicates an average utilization of something slightly higher than 29% (see info below). A caveat: world utilization may be a bit lower, as european wind sites are often of poorer quality than those in the US.

"About 6,740 megawatts of wind power capacity were installed in the U.S. (as of January 2005), generating over 17 billion kilowatt-hours annually." http://www.awea.org/faq/tutorial/wwt_statistics.html

[Dave Erickson]

No data about actual energy production, since this is the total through 2005. Are you actually asking about capacity factor? You can calculate easily the annual theoretical energy generated using the average CF of 30%: 8760 hrs * 11,000MW * 30% = 29 MWhr.

[Rod Adams]

Actually, I am interested in historical data, not theory. I understand quite well the theory and the advertised values for CF, but what I want to find is the real life value.

Theoretical energy does not keep anyone warm or light reading lamps for children studying for a better life. It also does not run any computers, power any stoves, or keep any food at the proper temperature for preservation.

[Dave Erickson]

Rod, I'm glad you're checking on this! Got to keep those wind millers honest. Actually, I think the question you should be asking is: Are the new wind installations profitable? Is the electricity being sold at a rate that gives the investors the ROI they're looking for?

This points out another major advantage that wind has over nuclear: The delay time between permitting and power production of a wind turbine is measured in months, rather than years. Even with a "streamlined" regulatory system (which I am not sure I'm entirely in favor of), nuclear power plants can take anywhere from 5-10 years or longer from approval to power production. This is just a much longer time to wait for any kind of revenue from an investment than what wind power offers.